Orlando González

 

Orlando González was a first baseman and outfielder who played in 79 major league games between 1976 and 1980.

Orlando Eugene González was born November 15, 1951, in La Habana, Cuba. In 1961, when he was nine, he and his younger brother were sent to the US by their parents, who followed the next year. He grew up in Miami, where he was a high school baseball star before graduating in 1970. After playing first base for two years at Miami-Dade South Junior College he was chosen in the 13^th round of the 1972 free agent draft by the Giants, but opted for a scholarship to the University of Miami. Between his two seasons there he played for the US in the Amateur World Series in Nicaragua, where he led the tournament in runs scored as the US won the championship. In his senior year he set school records for runs, hits, doubles, total bases, and stolen bases, hitting .402 with an NCAA record 62 stolen bases (in 61 games), and was named college player of the year as Miami advanced to the finals of the College World Series, losing to USC. During the tournament major league baseball held its draft, and Orlando was chosen by the Indians but, to his surprise, not until the 18^th round. Presumably this was due to his lack of power—at the time of the draft he had not hit a home run during the 1974 season, though he did get one later in the tournament. A June 16 AP story included the following:

“Orlando is still the most complete college ball player I’ve ever seen,” said [Miami coach Ron] Fraser. “He does everything—hits, runs, fields.”

Gonzalez’ two assets are his speed—he has been timed in 3.9 seconds to first base—and his leadership, Fraser believes…

“Electrifying and exciting are the best ways to describe him,” said Fraser. “I think we owe our great surge in the playoffs and the series to his over-all play and leadership.”

Fraser feels that Gonzalez deserves a shot at pro ball even if it’s only as a 342^nd choice.

“He has more power than the scouts think,” added Fraser. “He’s going to surprise somebody.”

Orlando signed with Cleveland and was sent to the San Antonio Brewers of the Class AA Texas League, where in 64 games as their first baseman he hit .279/.336/.335 with one homer and 12 stolen bases in 233 at-bats. In July he filled out a questionnaire in which he gave his nickname as “Big O,” his wife’s name as Maria M., his off-season occupation as student, and his hobbies as “music, beach.”

In 1975 Orlando returned to San Antonio, but after playing 54 games, all at first base, batting first and third in the order, and hitting .314/.377/.410, he was moved up on June 11 to the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Class AAA American Association. For the 89ers he played more outfield than first base, and he hit .306/.368/.377 in 85 games. After the season he played in the Venezuelan Winter League, as he would for the following four years.

In 1976 the Indians changed their AAA affiliate to the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League, and that’s where Orlando went. He had four hits on opening day and continued to hit, playing both outfield and first base, until on June 7, a day after hitting his first Toledo home run, the Indians called him up following an injury to Boog Powell. From the June 8 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

Tribe bright spot in another loss

Enter Orlando Gonzalez

By Joe Kleinec

C-T Sports Writer

CLEVELAND—It’s on nights like last night at the Stadium that the press corps looks for something to write about besides the game.

When you’ve just lost four of your last five games, including a double dip the day before, a 7-2 tumble to the Minnesota Twins is not the kind of thing that will wake up the fans…even if you throw in a triple play.

It’s on nights like these that you look for those storybook “kid makes good” tales that keep the flames of justice and right flickering.

Enter Orlando Gonzalez.

At 4 P.M. yesterday afternoon, the 23-year-old native Cuban was in the Toledo Mud Hens’ clubhouse getting ready for their doubleheader against Memphis. Some six hours and 10 minutes later, he was standing in the batter’s box at the Stadium, lining a hit to center field in his first major league at-bat.

“Numb,” was the way he described his feeling standing at the plate facing the Twins’ Dave Goltz. “No feeling, you know.”

For a person gone numb, Gonzalez did fairly well, stroking Goltz’ first offering back up the middle.

“I wasn’t nervous, just surprised because it’s so early in the year,” he said of his promotion made possible when Boog Powell was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a muscle tear in his right thigh. He was hitting .353 with 22 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases at Toledo. He was an 18^th round draft pick in 1974, and wasn’t even on the Major League roster this spring.

“I had just got to the ball park and I was taking the stuff out of my bag and beginning to get undressed,” he said, recounting what had happened earlier in the day. “They called me into the office and told me that they wanted me here for tonight’s game.”

…Gonzalez arrived at the Stadium in the first inning, suited up in a blue No. 12 jersey and took a place on the bench…

So with one out and one on in the bottom of the ninth, manager Frank Robinson pointed the finger to Gonzalez to hit for [Frank] Duffy.

“I was just sitting on the bench, and they started pointing at somebody, and all of a sudden, it’s me,” Orlando explained. “Being behind 7-2, I guess it was a good time to break me in.”

The next day, still against Minnesota, Orlando got the start in right field, batting second, and singled in the first inning against Pete Redfern. He got another start in right the next day, then after a pinch-hit appearance he was the regular first baseman from the 13^th through the 21^st, batting first and second in the order. The highlight of that period was the game of the 20^th, against Kansas City, in which he had three hits, including his first double, and stole his first base. On the 22^nd Powell returned to the lineup, but to Orlando’s surprise he was not sent back down, Robinson keeping him and sending down Doug Howard. But his playing time decreased significantly, and on July 16 he was sent back to Toledo to make room for Ray Fosse to come off the disabled list.

Orlando stayed with Toledo until the end of their season, hitting .311/.374/.389 in 357 at-bats there between the two stints, then on September 2 he was promoted again to the Indians. He got into six more games, five of them as a starter, and wound up his Cleveland season hitting .250/.301/.279 in 68 at-bats in 28 games. There was speculation that he would be taken in the American League expansion draft that fall, but he wasn’t, and he was then protected on the Indians’ expanded off-season major league roster.

In January 1977 it was reported that Orlando had signed a new contract with the Indians, but that turned out to be premature. From a March 3 AP story:

Cleveland Indians’ General Manager Phil Seghi, who is working hard to reduce his list of eight unsigned players, went the other way Wednesday, adding another name to the list.

An irate Seghi reported that the name of rookie outfielder-first baseman Orlando Gonzalez has been added to the ranks of the dissatisfied players.

Gonzalez was reported to have agreed verbally to terms three weeks ago, but Seghi said he was informed Wednesday that Gonzalez wants to renegotiate the pact.

“I will call Gonzalez’ agent, a fellow named Charlie Dye,” Seghi declared, “but only to inform him that I expect them to live up to their word. If they won’t, I will renew Gonzalez’ 1976 contract. I will not renegotiate.”

On March 20 the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported:

General manager Phil Seghi met with Orlando Gonzalez and his agent, Charley Dye, Saturday, but the session turned into a shouting match (with Seghi doing most of the yelling) during which, somebody suggested, “the plaster nearly came down from the ceiling.”

The hassle goes back to mid-January when Gonzalez verbally agreed to contract terms over the telephone, then, at the urging of Dye, changed his mind and asked to “renegotiate.” Seghi refused then as he did Saturday, and Gonzalez will play (undoubtedly at Toledo) for a 20 per cent cut in the salary he was paid last year when he hit .311 for the Mud Hens, and .250 in 28 games with the Indians.

“I told them I wouldn’t change my offer by twenty-five cents because, as far as I’m concerned, Gonzalez made an honorable agreement,” snorted Seghi with indignation.

Seghi did indeed renew Orlando’s contract with a 20 percent cut, and Orlando didn’t sign it, announcing his intention to become a free agent at the end of the season. And the Indians did indeed send him back to Toledo, where he spent the entire season, playing mainly outfield and designated hitter. He hit .306/.395/.373 with 28 stolen bases, and, for the fourth time in his four-year professional career, hit exactly one home run.

Orlando became a free agent and, when he was chosen by fewer than three teams in the November re-entry draft, was free to negotiate with any team. In January it was announced that the Phillies had signed him to a two-year contract with Oklahoma City, now their AAA team, but, as a year previously, it turned out to be premature. From the February 11 Sporting News:

Yes, Say the Phillies—No, Replies Gonzalez

By Chris Polkowski

MIAMI—Phillies’ officials say they are mystified over the strange case of free-agent outfielder Orlando Gonzalez.

A 26-year-old refugee of the Cleveland organization who batted .306 last year for Toledo (International), Gonzalez reportedly agreed to terms of a two-year contract with the Phillies, who assigned him to Oklahoma City (American Association).

Gonzalez, who resides in Miami, read about the signing in a newspaper. He then called the paper and asked for a retraction.

“I haven’t signed with anybody,” said Gonzalez, who was not selected in the re-entry draft. “My agent, Charlie Dye, has been negotiating with the Phillies and also with Toronto, Pittsburgh and Oakland.

“But there is nothing definite yet. I wonder how this information came about.”

The denial caught Phillies’ farm director Dallas Green by surprise.

“We talked on the phone,” said Green, “and I gave him (Gonzalez) the figures we were agreeable to. That’s all I know. To my knowledge, we reached agreement on a two-year contract.”

Orlando did sign with Philadelphia, and began the 1978 season in Oklahoma City. He was hitting .296/.393/.377 in 260 at-bats in 74 games, with his one annual home run, when he was called up to Philadelphia in mid-July. He made his National League debut on July 18 in the Astrodome, pinch hitting for Randy Lerch and drawing a walk against J.R. Richard. He stayed with the Phillies for the rest of the season, getting just three starts, in right field, and playing just 26 games, with five singles in 26 at-bats. The Phillies won their division but lost to the Dodgers in four games in the first round of the playoffs; Orlando got into the first game, pinch-hitting for Warren Brusstar and striking out against Bob Welch. He was voted a half share of the Phillies’ share of the World Series money, which amounted to $5732.51. He was not on the 40-man protected roster during the off-season.

Orlando spent the entire 1979 season back in Oklahoma City, playing outfield almost exclusively. He hit .313/.393/.440 in 480 at-bats, and broke out with six home runs. 

In June he took part in a milking contest between games of a doubleheader at Springfield, with players from both teams opposing a team of media members. And he got a mention in the July 21 Sporting News:

89ER PAIR ARRESTED

Oklahoma City players Dickie Noles and Orlando Gonzalez were among four men arrested June 27 following a disturbance at a restaurant. Noles, a pitcher, and Gonzalez, an outfielder, were booked on disorderly conduct charges. The men allegedly used loud and abusive language and made obscene gestures to waitresses as they dined.

In 1980 Orlando, now 28 years old, found himself back at Oklahoma City again. He got off to a great start, as mentioned in the following item from Sports Editor Bill Fluty’s column in the May 23 Evansville Courier and Press:

The story on the hitting streak of Oklahoma City’s Orlando Gonzalez (23 games, .429 average, more hits than anyone in baseball) reminded me of Evansville manager Jim Leyland’s remarks last September. They were made in a team meeting with the 1979 Triplets before they took on the 89ers in the American Association championship series. Leyland, Hoot Evers and another Detroit Tigers official had been drawing a bead on the Oklahoma City hitters over the final few weeks of the season in case the Triplets won the East race, which they did.

In the team session, it was easy to see Leyland had the 89er hitters well sized up, giving the rundown on each batter with such comments as “this guy can’t hit a curve; pitch this guy high; blow it by this one; shade this guy in the gaps.”

When he got down to Gonzalez, Leyland admitted he was baffled. “We’ve been watching this guy every day for three weeks,” he noted, “and he hits anything—high, low, fastball, curve, slider. And he hits it anywhere. Play him straight-away.”

Leyland looked at his pitchers. “Does anybody have any suggestions on how to pitch him?”

Dead silence greeted the question.

On June 14 he got a feature article in the Sporting News:

Gonzalez’ Numbers Don’t Count With Phils

By Pat Petree

OKLAHOMA CITY—Despite a showing that easily could produce his best season ever in Triple-A ball, outfielder Orlando Gonzalez faces an uncertain future.

Oklahoma City’s parent club, the Philadelphia Phillies, indicated that Gonzalez does not figure in current or future plans no matter how well he performs.

The former University of Miami star understands that the Phillies’ outfield of Greg Luzinski, Bake McBride and Garry Maddox would be hard to crack. But the rebuff still hurts.

“I put some big numbers up there in Oklahoma City last year,” he said. “I felt sure I would at least be put on the 40-man roster this spring if only as a reward for last year’s effort, but no one even considered that possibility. I think it’s a little unfair.”

…This year, Gonzalez’ numbers are even bigger because he is using his bat to vent his frustrations.

Through May 26, the 6-2, 185-pound Gonzalez had hit safely in 40 of the 89ers’ 43 games and was 28 games into a batting streak that had lifted his average from .316 to .430. And he was accomplishing his hitting miracle without apparent pressure.

“I feel good this year,” he said. “We’ve finally bought our home (in Miami). I was alone out here last year. But our first child is almost a year old and my wife and son are with me this year. That may not seem like much, but you get a lot of things on your mind and it can affect your performance. I’ve got a lot of those things that were bothering me resolved, and things are just going great.”

…Gonzalez is aware he is past his prime as a prospect. He’s 28 years old and has failed in two major league trials—batting .250 in 28 games for Cleveland in 1976 and .192 in 26 games for the Phillies in 1978.

But he is confident he has the ability and the time to fashion a strong major league career.

“I’m a competitor. I get discouraged, but I don’t quit trying and I feel what I’m doing now proves I can play in the majors,” he said.

His Oklahoma City manager, Jim Snyder, agreed.

“He’s exhibiting hitting like it should be done. He’s going to all fields, whatever it takes to get the hit, and he’s much better on defense and more aggressive on the base paths,” Snyder observed.

Has Gonzalez’ performance spurred any talks of a trade similar to the deal that sent infielder Jimmy Morrison from Oklahoma City to the Chicago White Sox last season after the Phillies concluded that the presence of Mike Schmidt at third and Manny Trillo at second blocked any future for Morrison in Philadelphia?

“Not that I’ve heard about, but I may be partly responsible for that,” Gonzalez said.

“Naturally, I want to play in the big leagues. The Phillies know that and I think they’ll help me get there if they can. But I told them that if all they could do was trade me to another team for more Triple-A ball somewhere else, I’d rather stay here.

“I like this team. We like Oklahoma City. As far as Triple-A ball goes, I’m very happy right here. Who knows? Maybe for now this is the best place to be.”

On July 23—at which time he was hitting .354/.428/.468 in 370 at-bats, with two homers—Orlando was traded to the Oakland Athletics for cash and a player to be named later. Billy Martin soon made him his designated hitter against right-handed pitchers, benching Mitchell Page, and Orlando made eight starts there followed by four at first base, in place of the injured Dave Revering, mostly batting sixth in the order. But at that point he was hitting .190 with no extra-base hits, and he went to the bench, where he stayed other than three more starts at first in mid-September. On September 1 the San Francisco Chronicle reported:

Martin, sensing that the team was letting down, surprised the players with a bed check (around 2 a.m.) Friday night. He found only one guilty party, Orlando Gonzalez, and fined him $100.

“I just want to let ‘em know the season isn’t over as far as I’m concerned,” Martin said.

Orlando wound up the Oakland part of his season hitting .243/.329/.243 in 70 at-bats.

Orlando went to spring training 1981 with the Athletics, but was released on March 2. I don’t know what he did next. In 1986 he was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. In 1989 he joined the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a league for players 35 and older (32 for catchers) that played in the fall and winter in Florida. In the 1989-90 season he played first base for the Gold Coast Suns, managed by Earl Weaver, and hit .331; his teammates included Stan Bahnsen, Joe Decker, Ed Figueroa, Ed Halicki, Grant Jackson, Mike Kekich, Luis Tiant, Paul Blair, Bert Campaneris, Paul Casanova, Cesar Cedeno, Glenn Gulliver, George Hendrick, Tom Shopay, Rennie Stennett, and Derrel Thomas. In 1990-91 he played for Daytona Beach, managed by Clete Boyer, and his teammates included Cedeno, Jose Cruz, Ross Grimsley, Garth Iorg, Pete LaCock, Tippy Martinez, Omar Moreno, Ken Reitz, and Ron Washington; however the league folded less than halfway through the season. That’s the last information I found about him.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pgonzo101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzaor01.shtml